HIS42590 De Valera's Ireland

Academic Year 2022/2023

This course will provide a thematic assessment of the political, social, economic and cultural history of the first fifty years of Irish independence in the 26 counties of the Irish Free State (which became a republic in 1949) and the extent to which there was a divergence between rhetoric and reality in the quest for an Irish identity after independence. It will examine the evolution of Irish political culture and the institutions of the independent state, neutrality during the Second World War and the southern Irish experience of health, welfare, religion, education, emigration, sport and popular culture, and feminism. The course will also explore the notion of “De Valera’s Ireland” as a distinct era of Irish history and a period stamped indelibly with the mark of the most dominant politician of twentieth century Ireland: Eamon de Valera. The course will focus closely on contemporary documents and the most up-to-date scholarship on these subjects.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to: (1) Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of southern Ireland from the 1920s to the 1970s and debates about de Valera and his legacy (2) Assess the historiography of this period of twentieth century Irish history; (3) Present aspects of the historical debate on Irish history orally and engage in discussions; (4) Be familiar with key documents and primary sources and how to analyse them; (5) Complete a comprehensive research paper based on original research.


Outlines of the main themes and historical debates as well as key primary sources from this period will be discussed in detail in the weekly two hour seminar, including contemporary newspaper reports, documents from Irish archives, published collections of speeches and published memoirs or books by participants in the period, letters and diaries, as well as the extensive range of books in the UCD Library. A selection of relevant source material will be posted on Blackboard each week. Students should consult this site regularly so that they will have the necessary information and material for participation in the seminars.



A small-group seminar based module, taught through a weekly 2 hour seminar, focusing on key historical events, debates and documents and involving debates, discussion, document analysis, presentations and a research paper.